


Girl, You're Like a Weird Vacation

by victoria_p (musesfool)



Category: Blue Beetle (Comic)
Genre: Awkwardness, Double Dating, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 01:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesfool/pseuds/victoria_p
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They don't go on dates. Therefore, they're not dating.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Girl, You're Like a Weird Vacation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anathomical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anathomical/gifts).



> Thank you to Laura and Snacky for betaing.

Jaime finishes his sandwich and says, "Traci's going to be visiting this weekend. I was hoping we could all hang out."

"Sure," Paco says, not even looking up from his lunch, and therefore totally missing the quelling glare Brenda is aiming at him. 

"I don't know," she says, still frowning at Paco. "What did you have in mind?"

Jaime shrugs and takes a sip of his soda. "Like, a double date or something, since you two are together now. I don't know. Is that stupid?"

"We're not dating." This time Paco glances at her, uncertainty clear in the way his forehead crinkles. She gives him a one-shoulder shrug. It's true. "We don't really go on dates."

Jaime looks up from his pudding cup. "You don't?"

"Nah, bro. We just have makeouts when you're not around." Paco leers and elbows Brenda in the ribs and she kicks him in the shins. Which is kind of like making out while Jaime's there. Though he probably doesn't want to know that.

Jaime sits back in his chair. "Huh."

"Yeah."

"Well, think about it, okay? I don't want to spend the whole weekend with my mother looking over my shoulder, pretending she's cool but totally not letting us have any time alone. Not to mention Milagro interrupting to ask if Traci knows Harry Potter."

Brenda hums noncommittally and jumps up as the bell rings; she's going to have to think this through. As she walks away, she can hear Jaime ask, "What's up with her?" and Paco's mumbled, "I dunno," in response. She rolls her eyes. _Boys_.

*

"We should have girls' day out," Tia Amparo says that night while they're finishing dinner. "We could go to the mall on Saturday, maybe get a mani-pedi and a massage."

"I have plans," Brenda says immediately. Even the awkwardness of being on a double date pales in comparison with the idea of a spa day with Tia Amparo. "Jaime's girlfriend is visiting and he wants us all to do something together."

"Double-dating, huh?"

"Paco and I are not dating," she says as repressively as she can, which has absolutely no effect on Tia Amparo's smug grin. "We don't go on dates. Therefore, we are not dating." She gets up and starts clearing the table.

"Ay, mija, I'm just teasing." Tia Amparo wraps an arm around Brenda's shoulders and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Do you want him to take you on dates?"

Brenda thinks about it. Brenda's done nothing _but_ think about it since that kiss and the battle with the Reach. "Yes," she says. "No. I don't know."

"Do I need to have a talk with him?" Tia Amparo's still grinning but her gaze has gone steely.

Brenda tries not to wince and doesn't quite manage it. "No. Definitely not."

"Let me know if I do." Tia Amparo gives her another squeeze. "Now finish clearing the table and your homework. We have some Pawn Stars to watch."

*

Brenda's in the library when Paco finds her. He drops down into the chair next to her and says, "You okay?"

She tilts her head and looks at him. "I thought you had class now."

He shrugs a shoulder. "When have I ever let that get in my way?" 

She laughs and shakes her head. "Never."

"Exactly." He uses his feet to shift her chair a little, just enough so she's facing him instead of the table. Her stomach swerves a little at the unexpected movement, but she doesn't complain; truth be told, she kind of likes it. "If you don't wanna do this thing with Jaime and Traci on Saturday--"

She looks down at her hands. "No, I do."

"You're just being weird about it."

She huffs but can't deny it. "Pretty much, yeah." She looks up again, rueful smile on her face.

He grins back. "Okay." He leans in and kisses her, just the soft press of his lips against hers, and then he leans back. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours."

"Thinking," she answers tartly. "Thoughts. You should try it sometime."

He laughs, and this time she leans forward to kiss him, lips parted and tongue licking into his mouth. 

If they get caught by the librarian, they'll both get detention, but Brenda doesn't care. She wants to climb into his lap and make out until they're both breathless and dizzy. She wants him to shove his hands up under her shirt and touch her breasts until her nipples are so hard they ache, wants to rock her hips against him until they're both desperate, and maybe this time she wants to finish what they've started, underwear off for the full-on naked, first-time sex experience.

She doesn't, of course. They're still in the library at school and she doesn't need to be that weird girl who had sex in the stacks with Paco Tejas. 

Even so, she makes a small, distressed noise when he pulls away this time, and she likes that he looks as starry-eyed as she feels. She still can't quite believe she's the one who puts that look on his face. Space aliens and superheroes, sure. That Paco wants her? Not so much.

"I'll tell Jaime you're just being you," he murmurs against her ear, and she shivers at the low roughness in his voice.

"It's why you like me, right?" She means it to come out nonchalant, but her voice quavers a little too much to pull it off.

"Yeah." He slouches back into his chair, casually draping his backpack over his lap and stretching his legs out in front of him. 

Her mouth, still tingling a little from kissing him, twitches up into a tiny half-grin. "You're staying in the library?"

"I like watching you study." He reaches out and taps her nose. "Your nose crinkles up. It's adorable." He drags the word out like a joke, but the way he's looking at her makes her whole body flush.

"Okay," she says, and it's a little weird for the first couple of minutes, knowing he's watching her over the edge of the history textbook he's pretending to read, but then she gets caught up in her trig assignment and then it's just like any other time they ever studied together, except now she knows if she leans over and kisses him, he'll kiss her back.

*

Tia Amparo leaves the envelope with the tickets hanging on the fridge with a Superman magnet.

"The New Mexico State game? Really?" Jaime says when she tells him and Paco on Friday morning before class. He gets that faraway look that means Khaji Da is talking and then he says, "No, I'm sure the Miners can handle them. We don't need to take steps." He grins sheepishly and runs a hand through his hair. "He takes soccer very seriously."

"As well he should," Brenda says, not trying very hard to keep herself from smiling. 

"Then why won't you let me paint myself in Miners' colors?" Paco says.

"Because that's crossing over from serious to drunk and stupid."

"Hmph." His mouth pooches out in a little pout that Brenda can't help but kiss, before she remembers that they don't do that in front of Jaime, who is politely looking away, hands shoved in his pockets. 

"Khaji Da says congratulations on the making out, by the way."

Brenda jumps back like she's been shocked. "He what?"

"Okay, not really." Jaime gives her a sly look. "But he thinks human courting rituals are sweet. Unnecessarily complicated and ridiculous, but sweet."

"Does he give you a running commentary when you're with Traci? Because that would seriously throw me off my game," Paco says.

Brenda snorts. "I don't think anything could throw you off your game." The smile Paco gives her is so stunningly sweet she has to blink.

"Sometimes," Jaime admits, ignoring their back and forth. "Luckily, she thinks he's kind of cute, so it works out."

"My best friend is in a threesome with an alien and a hot witch," Paco says, shaking his head. "I love your life." Brenda swats his shoulder and he snakes an arm around her waist and yanks her close. "But I wouldn't trade, so don't get any funny ideas."

The bell rings then. Paco walks her to class with his arm around her waist and his hand tucked in her pocket, and she enjoys it more than she expects.

*

The weather is clear and bright and warm on Saturday, perfect for an afternoon soccer game and then maybe dinner after, though given what Jaime's life is like now, they've all learned to be flexible when it comes to planning--mostly they just hang out, so supervillains generally aren't interrupting much, and they all know better than to jinx the day by mentioning how nice and quiet it's been so far. 

And really, calling it quiet would be a lie, because the stadium might be small, but the fans are loud. There's a contingent from New Mexico State sitting near them, all painted up and shrieking, and Jaime has to talk both Brenda and Paco down from confronting them more than once after a couple of terrible non-calls by the officials.

"That totally should have been a penalty!" Brenda says and Paco nods in agreement.

"They're probably trying to prove they're not favoring the home team," Traci says.

"Well, they're doing a great job," Brenda answers, raising her voice a little, and not just because she wants Traci to hear her over the crowd noise, "because it totally looks like they're favoring the Aggies."

She expects Jaime to give her another warning about starting fights, but he's too busy muttering, "No, you can't incinerate them" to Khaji Da to notice.

Still, the Miners are leading 1-0 at halftime, and they've been eating a steady stream of snacks, and Paco's arm is warm and heavy across Brenda's shoulders as they slump towards each other for a long stretch in the second half where nothing much happens.

It gets exciting again in the final minutes, with the Aggies' offense coming to life, and only a couple of really nice saves by the Miners' goalie keeps the game from being tied (or, even worse, the Aggies taking the lead).

The clock is winding down when the Aggies finally get one past the Miners' goalie, but it's flagged for offside and the goal is disallowed.

Brenda is too busy celebrating this at first to realize that the Aggies' fans in the rows behind them aren't just shrieking in despair, but are actively shedding not only their NMSU jerseys but also--

"Holy crap, Jaime, they're peeling off their skins," she says, watching in horror as their human disguises split open and gray, tentacled creatures are left in their place. They start ripping up their seats and throwing them at the field, while the rest of the crowd, including the players on both teams and the referees, starts shrieking and running.

"And me without my alien-beating stick," Paco says, one hand curling around hers and the other clenching into a fist. "Guess we'll have to do this the hard way." She gives him a tight smile in return. 

"I know," Jaime is saying, "but I need a place to change where no one else can see. I don't want these squid guys to know who I am. No, killing them all to protect my identity is not a viable option."

"I'm going to give you some cover," Traci says. She murmurs something and then they're all encased in a filmy white cloud for a moment.

"Okay," Jaime says a few seconds later, emerging from the cloud in full-on Blue Beetle mode. "Traci, cover me. Paco and Brenda, help get the people out safely. Khaji Da, now you can incinerate them." 

Brenda isn't sorry to miss this fight; Jaime and Traci work well together, and even though it's a small stadium, there are hundreds of people running around screaming who'll do a lot better with someone to tell them what to do, and that's something Brenda is really good at. 

She and Paco get everyone out into the parking lot while Jaime knocks the aliens unconscious (he doesn't actually incinerate them, though it sounds like Khaji Da really wants to); between his concussive blasts and Traci's magical tentacle-cuffs (and Brenda doesn't want to think too closely about that), they've got everything under control. By the time Green Lantern finally shows up, cursing and hollering about his own afternoon of watching NASCAR being interrupted, there are only a few aliens left for him to punch out with his ring.

Paco and Brenda slip away from where the non-rioting fans are corralled in the parking lot in time to hear him say, "Good work, kid." He gives the tied up aliens a disgusted look. "These guys are the worst fans in the galaxy. They've been banned from attending matches in over seventy systems."

Jaime nods. "Khaji Da says they're the reason the rest of the intergalactic football league can't have nice things."

Guy grunts in agreement and then takes off with the now-unconscious aliens suspended in a big green bubble, and Jaime powers down. 

"You guys all okay?"

"Yeah," Paco says; he wraps his hand around Brenda's again. "You are, right?"

"Yeah," she says. 

"Good." Jaime turns to Traci and tucks her hair behind her ears. "Thanks for the help. You're the best girlfriend a superhero could have."

Brenda tugs Paco away so they can give Jaime and Traci some privacy. 

"Don't I get any victory smoochies?" he asks.

"Of course," she says, flinging her arms around his neck and pressing her mouth to his. 

Her heart is still racing from the adrenaline, and Paco's hands on her face, her neck, threaded through her hair, only make it beat faster. Kissing him is way scarier than alien soccer hooligans or the end of the world, because it means if they ever break up (and what are the odds they won't, eventually?), she's going to lose at least one of her best friends. But kissing him is also a bigger rush than fighting aliens or saving the world, because he makes her feel like she can do those things with nothing but her brains and her hands and him at her side, a team she wouldn't bet against under any circumstances, and maybe that's worth taking the chance for.

They don't break apart until they hear Jaime's loud, fake, throat clearing, but he's smiling when Brenda looks over at him. "You guys ready to go?"

"I'm starving," Brenda says. "Let's get this date back on track."

Later, when they're alone in the backseat of the car and Paco is sliding her bra strap down her arm, he says, "You're the best girlfriend any guy could have."

"I know," Brenda says against his mouth. 

end


End file.
